Clipmarks | Socratoad's Afghanistan collection

Georgia to send 400 troops to Afghanistan

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:50:54 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Georgia to send 400 troops to Afghanistan

Moscow - Georgia is to send 400 troops to Afghanistan to help NATO-led forces in the fight against insurgents loyal to the country's former Taliban rulers, reports said Tuesday. The troops will be deployed in the volatile south of Afghanistan by year's end, where they will be under French and Dutch command, the news agency Interfax reported, quoting the Georgian Defence Ministry.

A defence ministry spokesman in the former Soviet Republic said Georgia had no immediate plans to withdraw any of its 2,000 troops serving with US-led coalition forces in Iraq.

Georgia is seeking to join NATO, but has been hindered from doing so by the conflicts over its breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

It Takes a School, Not Missiles

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:44:08 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

It Takes a School, Not Missiles

Since 9/11, Westerners have tried two approaches to fight terrorism in Pakistan, President Bush’s and Greg Mortenson’s.

Mr. Bush has focused on military force and provided more than $10 billion — an extraordinary sum in the foreign-aid world — to the highly unpopular government of President Pervez Musharraf. This approach has failed: the backlash has radicalized Pakistan’s tribal areas so that they now nurture terrorists in ways that they never did before 9/11.

Mr. Mortenson, a frumpy, genial man from Montana, takes a diametrically opposite approach, and he has spent less than one-ten-thousandth as much as the Bush administration. He builds schools in isolated parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, working closely with Muslim clerics and even praying with them at times.

The only thing that Mr. Mortenson blows up are boulders that fall onto remote roads and block access to his schools.

U.S. troops abandon Afghan outpost following attack

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:53:47 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.dailyme.com

U.S. troops abandon Afghan outpost following attack

KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. troops have pulled out of a remote outpost in northeastern Afghanistan, NATO-led security force said on Wednesday, three days after Taliban militants tried to overrun the base and killed nine U.S. soldiers.

NATO played down the significance of the withdrawal, but Taliban militants are sure to claim victory in driving foreign forces out of the wooded valley, close to the Pakistani border.

Taliban militants briefly breached the incomplete defenses of the newly established base in the Wanat district of Kunar province on Sunday and hours of fierce fighting ensued that killed nine U.S. soldiers and many more insurgents.

It was the biggest single loss of life for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since 2005.

Afghan forces push Taliban militants from villages

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:09:22 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Afghan forces push Taliban militants from villages

AP Photo: Canadian soldiers with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) along with an Afghan soldier, center,...

Slideshow: Afghanistan

ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan - Afghan and NATO troops backed by warplanes drove Taliban militants from villages within striking distance of southern Afghanistan's main city on Thursday, killing 56 of them, Afghan officials said.

NATO said the 24-hour operation in Arghandab was a swift success that banished any threat to Kandahar and would help reassure Afghans appalled at the embarrassing mass escape of Taliban prisoners from a city jail last week.

Hundreds of families who fled the lush, orchard-strewn valley, which begins just 10 miles from the city, were told they could safely return, the alliance said.

Easy To Conquer, Impossible To Hold

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:07:03 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: agonist.org

Easy To Conquer, Impossible To Hold

Afghanistan is easy to conquer, but impossible to hold.

That is the inescapable conclusion of mine regarding Afghanistan. As we get the grim news that American and Allied deaths in Afghanistan climbed above those in Iraq for the same period. Afghanistan is the forgotten war or our time--and nothing could have been more easily avoided. I had grave misgivings even before we invaded Afghanistan. Not that it wasn't justified. It was. But that an invasion and nation building exercise seemed imprudent, which is the gravest failing any statesman can ever make.

Do I have a solution? Well, I once offered one, but that's by the by now. All we have to look forward to now is failure and what form it takes. Will we withdraw declaring victory, leaving the Afghans to their own devices? Or will we be humiliated as the Russians were and the British before the? Only time will tell.

Tailors banned from measuring women

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:51:50 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: today.reuters.com

Province bans male tailors from measuring women

KABUL (Reuters) - Male tailors in an Afghan province have been barred from measuring female clients for fittings following a new local ruling that resembles the restrictions the ultra-conservative Taliban imposed on the country when in power.

The decision was made by a council of Islamic clergymen in northeastern Takhar province recently, governor Abdul Latif Ibrahimi said.

"The male tailors have been told to stop measuring women," Ibrahimi told Reuters by phone on Saturday. "They need to be measured by female tailors."

While many Afghan women have excellent needlework and dressmaking skills, the overwhelming majority of commercial tailors are men.

Kabul's drug addicts

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:53:58 GMT

clipped by: MomLes

Clip Source: www.medbroadcast.com

The sound of gunfire once echoed in the imposing, bullet-scarred structure. Now, a stale whiff of heroin hangs in the air. The spent bullet cartridges have been replaced by used syringes.

About a dozen drug addicts call this once grand building - Kabul's former Russian Cultural Centre - their home. Most fled to Iran as refugees during the harsh Taliban rule. Many became addicts while away. Now, Iran is sending many of them home, often against their will.

Losing Hope

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:18:29 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.slate.com

dispatches: Notes from different corners of the world.

Losing HopeWhat happened to Afghans' stubborn optimism?

By Vanessa Gezari
Updated Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007, at 7:39 AM ET

Afghans have lived too long in the teeth of war to entertain many illusions about the durability of peace. But between 2002 and 2004, when I lived in the country as a reporter, I witnessed a stubborn kind of hope. This, it seemed to me, was the glue that held the Afghan project together.

2007, the deadliest for journalists

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:29:36 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.presstv.ir

Record numbers of journalist have been killed all over the world this year as Iraq remains the deadliest country for the fifth year.

Never before has so many journalists been killed in one year, the total up to date is 110 as compared with 96 in 2006 and 68 in 2005, according to the Press Emblem Campaign(PEC) monitoring system.

"This year's tally represents a 14 percent increase over the 2006 figure," said the media rights group.

In total journalists have been killed in 27 countries led by Iraq in which 50 killed this year, it added.

The situation in Iraq represents an unprecedented situation of collective slaughter and punishment of members of the media profession, noted the group.

Somalia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan rank the second to forth places after Iraq as 69 journalists of the total of 110 killed in 2007 were killed in those four dangerous conflict zones.

U.S.-led air raid kills seven Afghan children

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:14:17 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee
clipper's remarks: sorry is the easiest word to say in the dictionery and the US has the license to kill.....

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

KABUL (Reuters) - At least seven children were killed in a U.S.-led coalition air strike on a religious school in Afghanistan, the coalition said on Monday, amid rising anger over civilian deaths from foreign military operations.

A U.S. military spokesman said some children who survived Sunday's raid said pupils had been forced by insurgents to stay inside the madrasa.

"We are truly sorry for the innocent lives lost in this attack," said Army Major Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman, in a statement.

"We had surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building."

The air strike on the school occurred on the same day a suspected suicide bomber killed more than 20 people in an attack on a police bus in the heart of Kabul.

Other violence around the country made it one of the bloodiest days since the Taliban were driven from power in 2001.

Tags: afghan, us, army, children, kill, sorry.

Abused Afghan women turn to suicide-by-fire

Thu, 10 May 2007 18:42:29 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Bibi Kuku, a 19-year-old Afghan woman, wanted to die. Forced to marry and soon pregnant, she set herself on fire in an extreme act of self-harm, she told the nurses who treated her.

Officials at the hospital where Kuku was being treated say 80 percent of their burn victims are women -- about one-third of them self-inflicted injuries. Doctors say many of those are women who set themselves on fire in suicide attempts. It's a trend, they say, that's on the rise.

Tags: afghanistan, self-harm, suicide, women, abuse, fire

Time Magazine hides stroies from U.S. public

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 04:02:22 GMT

clipped by: ekorstanje
clipper's remarks: They wouldn't do that would they?

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Time Joins Newsweek In Thinking That Americans Really, Really Don't Care About Afghanistan

Interesting. This week, Time's cover story is an essay arguing in favor of teaching the Bible in schools, which can be boiled down to this: "Of course the Bible should be taught in schools. Duh. It's religion that shouldn't be." On the cover of its international edition is a story that is less easily boiled down: "The Truth About Talibanistan," about the resurgence of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (and also, Pakistan), and how it's "the next battleground of the war on terrorism." The story is in the U.S. edition of the magazine but not on the American cover, presumably because Rick Stengel & co. think the Bible will do better newsstand (even though it is a singularly unattractive cover).

Tags: time magazine

What if they gave a war & nobody came?

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:42:28 GMT

clipped by: lmonteros
clipper's remarks: This reminds me of a Vietnam era slogan:
"What if they gave a war and nobody came?"

Soon there may be no one left to invite.

Full article at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070310/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_troops

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Pentagon struggles to find fresh troops

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

Sat Mar 10, 9:23 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Military leaders are struggling to choose Army units to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan longer or go there earlier than planned, but five years of war have made fresh troops harder to find.

Faced with a military buildup in Iraq that could drag into next year, Pentagon officials are trying to identify enough units to keep up to 20 brigade combat teams in Iraq. A brigade usually has about 3,500 troops.

One official said planners are scrambling to figure out what combination of units and schedules can be fashioned that could give Petraeus what he wants and have the least negative impact on the troops.

Tags: iraq, afghanistan, war, troops

US seizes Afghan shooting footage

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 20:49:56 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: english.aljazeera.net

US seizes Afghan shooting footage

US forces in Afghanistan tried to confiscate video and destroy photographic evidence taken after a shooting incident that left at least 10 civilians dead, witnesses have told Al Jazeera.

Footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows the scene in Nangarhar province immediately after US forces opened fire following a car bomb attack on their convoy.

The footage shows local people in shock, treating the wounded and pulling bodies from the debris left by the shooting.

After the Nargarhar incident, a separate Nato air raid in northern Afghanistan left nine civilians dead, according to a local official.

'Complete lie'

Witnesses say the suicide bomber had acted alone, that there were no accomplices and that US troops had panicked, firing at anything that moved immediately after the attack.

One told Al Jazeera: "There were no gunmen, this is a complete lie. This is a peaceful area, we don't have guns."

Tags: us, war, afgha, video siezure

Hope fading among Afghans

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 11:04:01 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.thestar.com

Hope fading among Afghans

Maryam Akrami

Community Editorial Board

Afghanistan was voted the Canadian news story of 2006 by Canadian newspaper editors and broadcasters. As Afghanistan continues to grab headlines in Canada, I would like to express some of my views on the issue as an Afghan Canadian.

Canadian casualties in Afghanistan since 2001 are well documented. Most of us also have an idea of how much Canada is spending on military and aid purposes in Afghanistan. But this is just one side of the tale, the Canadian side. The story is incomplete without the Afghan side.

Afghans also have been wounded and killed as a result of the ongoing conflict. Afghans die in aerial bombardments by the United States and its allies. They die when caught in the crossfire between the Taliban and NATO forces. Whenever a bomb explodes on a road or in a crowded market and kills Canadian or other NATO soldiers, inevitably some Afghans also die. They also die in "errors," "mistakes" and "accidents" by the U.S. and its allies. Afghans also have been dying because of poverty and disease, the side effects of war. It is obvious that Afghan casualties must be in the thousands.

We often hear politicians talking about girls going to school and the recent elections as examples of progress.

Citing elections as evidence of the dawn of democracy and progress in Afghanistan is not credible either. What has democracy achieved when people cannot find food to feed their children? Nor is this the first time an election has been held in Afghanistan.

Tags: afghanistan